This monograph focuses on practical information and offers guidelines for professional counselors who practice marriage and family counseling. It discusses the importance of specialized training for professional counselors to ensure working ethically with couples and families, and it reviews divorce, child custody, and child abuse and neglect, which are some of the most common areas encountered by marriage and family therapists. The various responses a therapist may make if the divorce attorney calls are discussed, and the difference between a family therapist and a divorce mediator is examined. Suggestions for the therapist who testifies as a lay witness or as an expert witness are included. The child abuse and neglect mandatory reporting issue and the rights of stepparents are reviewed. Insurance fraud is discussed. Finally, potential consequences of using paradoxical therapy with the family are presented. A glossary of 18 terms, ranging from "alternative dispute resolution" to "third parties," is presented. Eleven frequently asked questions are stated and answered. Guidelines for practice are given. A list of five suggested readings with annotations are provided. (Contains 46 references.) (ABL)